Review SAVAGE GRACE ‘Sign of the Cross’

Savage Grace has its roots in the 80s when the band presented two remarkable albums. In 1985 ‘Master of Disguise’ was the debut album and it was a year later when the band released a sophomore album ‘After the Fall from Grace’. What distinguishes both releases is a cliche-laden and partly embarrassing artwork combined with excellent music. To the disappointment of their fans, the band members went different ways in 1992 and the end of Savage Grace was sealed.

Not many of the original line-up are still on board. It is guitarist Chris Longue who is the driving force behind Savage Grace 2023. He has incorporated a powerful rhythm section with Fabio Carito and Marcus Dotta and it is vocalist Gabriel Colon who gives the album a special sparkle. Colon can be called a true metal siren and reminds more than once of the legendary Rob Halford, especially when it goes into the high pitches. This is already clear with the opener ‘Barbarians at the Gate’, a song that generally has some Judas Priest references.

A highlight on the album is certainly the title track, which begins with an acoustic intro. Also the howling wind in the background reminds of the 80s before the song builds up to a real riff monster.

37 years after ‘After the Fall from Grace’, Savage Grace tend more towards heavy metal and power metal, while the earlier speed metal references tend to fade into the background, which is especially obvious in the very melodic ‘Rendevouz’ and also in the moderately kept ‘Stealin’ My Heart Away’. These songs are not bad, however, the furious ‘Slave of Desire’ has more firepower, even if here the Priest references come out clearly. Even if Savage Grace present a successful comeback album, the one or other somewhat average number has slipped onto the album with ‘Land Beyond the Walls’.

Even if the artwork this time is more moderate than in the 80s, Savage Grace show themselves lyrically nevertheless in outdated cliches and widely interpretable spheres. Nevertheless, ‘Sign of the Cross’ has become surprisingly good even if I still prefer to play the first two albums.